This invention relates generally to a contact assembly for connecting a circuit board and a coaxial connector, and in particular to one in which a microstrip or stripline configuration is utilized.
In RF devices, such as portable two-way radios, it is often necessary to provide an electrical RF connection between a printed circuit board that is located within a housing and a coaxial connector mounted on the housing. The interconnection is required to present the proper impedance between the circuit board and the coaxial connector.
One approach to this problem is to utilize coaxial cable, such as miniature coaxial cable which is solder to both the circuit board and the coaxial connector. This approach has several drawbacks. First of all, soldering of coaxial cables is inherently a manual operation that does not lend itself to automation and it is consequently both more time consuming and more costly to manufacture a device utilizing this approach. Additionally, the connection is semi-permanent, that is it requires unsoldering to disconnect the circuit board from the coaxial connector. This inhibits the removal and the insertion of the circuit board from the housing. One well known alternative approach involves the use of inline coaxial connector. The ends of the coaxial cable are soldered to the coaxial connector and the circuit board and the inline connector is used to allow connection and removal of the circuit board from the housing. This approach still requires manual soldering of the coaxial cables as well as the manual connection of the inline connector.
Another approach to interconnection of a circuit board and a coaxial connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,461, entitled, "RF Interconnect with Triaxial SelfAlignment", assigned to the assignee of the present patent invention, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set out herein. This approach utilized a formed wire to accommodate tolerance variations in contacting a center pin of a coaxial connector.
It is desirable that a contact assembly be mounted directly to the circuit board and provide automatic connection of the circuit board to the coaxial connector without any manual operation other than the insertion of the circuit board into the housing, while providing proper the impedance for the RF connection.